 "This
is Mary Deehan's passport picture. 1924. Sept. Almost 17 years old.
Taken in Ireland. Came over on HMS Mauretania. Steerage 3rd class. "To
us it was okay, 4 bunks vertically. Had meals buffet style, spent time
out on deck. Very large ship. I was sick for 7 days. It took 14 days to
cross. I was alone. I had sponsors; my aunt and uncle. James D. Lynch and
Rose Lynch; they owned a local loan business with Fred B. Snite. They lived
on Beacon Street. He had a loan business at 30 N. Dearborn. I stayed with
them. 7 or 8 kids lived there at the time." Mary was niece. Helen Lynch
and Mary Barrett's mom were sisters. Only Helen left now; lives in Glenn
Ellen. Is 88. Nobody picked anybody up at the waterfront in NY. A friend
of her father met her at the dock. Father Grogan. The only man allowed
on the ship to pick up the immigrant girls. Anybody that had no one to
go home to he took them to his house. Found work for them. She took the
Nickel Plate (train) to Chicago; took 2 days, 2 nights, immigrants on train
wore tags on their clothing that said who they were and where they were
going. Ellis Island. Was... " a place" (with disgust in her voice). " A
hellhole" . They sent people back who has any physical ailment....even
bad vision. Checking people out on the boat, and on the island. Glad they
closed Ellis Island. " It was bad" . No luggage, small suitcase, they dig
through everything we had. They lined you up naked, to see if you had any
skin diseases. "You' re just a kid, it was horrible. They sprayed everything
you had and you. Treated us like animals." From an interview conducted
by her grandson, Peter Dennis Barrett.
"There were no phones then. 1934 or so. Did not get a phone until
years later on Ohio street. Then were on a 4-party line. Nickel phones;
you had to have a nickel to use them. Mary lived on Diversey; 6648 Diversey,
then 6207 Diversey. There was a phone next door in a grocery store. When
call came in for her, the woman in the store would rap on the pipes and
Mary'd go over. A Polish couple owned this small grocery store."I remember
when the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped. The police would pull up beside
you when you were carrying a baby and look to make sure it was yours."
(Caption says "The Flapper; 1927" : it is of Mary Deehan. Taken at Hoffman
Studios "Free photo with coupon" ). From an interview conducted by Mary
Deehan Barrett's grandson, Peter Dennis Barrett.
 
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